The Employment Equity Act, Act no 55 of 1998 (the EEA), in Code of Good Practice on Employment of Persons with Disabilities, defines employees as “people with disabilities” if they endure any of the following conditions:
- Physical impairment – partial or total loss of bodily function or part of the body. This includes, but is not limited to, loss of limbs, trauma, etc.
- Mental and/or Intellectual impairment – clinically recognised condition or illness that affects a person’s thought processes, judgment or emotions.
- Sensory impairment – clinically recognised condition or illness that affects a person’s sensory organs. This includes, but is not limited to, sensory impairments such as being deaf, hearing impaired, or being visually impaired.
Other requirements for a disability:
The impairment should be- or expected to be long lasting (more than 12 months) or recurring. The impairment must further substantially limit a person’s prospects of entry into, or advancement in the workplace.
The purpose and benefits of fair treatment:
Creating opportunities for all employees to work to their full potential increases morale and develops feelings of mutual respect among employees. The provision of reasonable accommodation for a particular employee not only ensures the fair treatment of employees with disabilities, but also contributes to improvement in team spirit and increased respect for diversity within the workplace.
What does the Employment Equity Act require from employers?
In terms of the Act designated employers is expected to reasonably accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities. The aim of “reasonable accommodation” is to remove barriers impacting on the person’s capacity to fulfil the essential functions of a job. The extent of “reasonable accommodation” depends on the job and its essential functions, the work environment and the person’s specific impairment.
Reasonable accommodation includes but not limited to the following:
- Adapting existing facilities to make them accessible, for e.g. building a ramp to ensure wheelchair access and making toilets accessible for all.
- Adapting existing – or acquiring new equipment, for e.g. computer hardware and software, including voice input/output software for persons with sensory impairment.
- Enhancing the ergonomics of workstations to ensure that persons with disabilities can work effectively and efficiently.
- Changing training and assessment materials, processes and systems, for e.g. providing training materials in electronic- or audio format, or in braille. Further, ensuring that training venues are accessible to persons with disabilities for training sessions that are held outside the company’s premises.
- Restructuring jobs so that physically demanding functions are re-assigned, for example removing filing tasks of a disabled employee in a wheelchair and reassigning them on a rotational basis among other fully abled colleagues.
- Adjusting working time and leave, e.g. in cases of cyclical, but non-predictable impairments such as continuing health conditions (HIV/AIDS, cancer) and emotional disabilities.
- Providing specialised supervision, training and support in the workplace, for example interpreters or other assistance for the persons with hearing impairments, readers for the blind, job coaches for persons with intellectual disabilities or personal assistants for persons with physical disabilities. Depending on the requirements of the individual, support might be temporary or permanent.